NPR Story

1:14 pm

Mon March 17, 2014

Earthquake Shakes Los Angeles

Egill Hauksson, a Caltech seismologist, talks about an early morning earthquake during a news conference in Pasadena, Calif, on Monday, March 17, 2014. The pre-dawn quake rolled across the Los Angeles basin on Monday, rattling residents from the San Fernando Valley to Long Beach but causing no reported damage. The quake's magnitude was 4.4 and it was centered 15 miles west-northwest of the downtown civic center, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. (Nick Ut/AP)

It wasn’t exactly “the big one,” but people in Southern California did get a rude awakening today when a 4.4 magnitude earthquake struck. The quake could be felt from the San Fernando Valley down to Long Beach, but there are no reports of damage or injury.

Here & Now‘s Jeremy Hobson is reporting from Los Angeles this week and checks in with co-host Robin Young about what the quake felt like. He also shares what he has in store for us tomorrow and Wednesday when he co-hosts the show from NPR West.

Guest

A 4.4 magnitude earthquake made for a rude awakening today for people in Southern California, including our own Jeremy Hobson we're going to be bringing in for just a minute. And, Jeremy, when I was awakened by an earthquake once, I called 911 and said a monkey hit my house with a telephone pole.

(LAUGHTER)

YOUNG: What did you do?

JEREMY HOBSON, HOST:

Well, you know, they said don't call 911 because apparently people were doing that. I thought originally because I was sleeping - it only lasted about five seconds or so where I was, which was probably about nine miles away from the epicenter. But I thought a truck had crashed into the house. And, of course, it (unintelligible). And then I loaded up Twitter, and everybody was already tweeting within seconds about this earthquake, in fact, with some very funny tweets. People are calling it the shamrock shake today.

YOUNG: That was you.

HOBSON: Yeah. Exactly. Somebody said if it turns out the epicenter was under your house, you and your entire block will get a free chalupa.

(LAUGHTER)

YOUNG: Well, we're happy to report no injuries although, as we said, a lot of people thrown from beds. The author Susan Orlean wrote that she was thrown out of bed. And you should be prepared to do all the reporting you need to do tomorrow from California.

HOBSON: That's right. We're going to have Governor Jerry Brown on the show tomorrow. We'll have the mayor of LA, Eric Garcetti, on the next day. And we're going to be visiting tomorrow a water recycling plant, which, of course, as this state deals with this major drought, it is becoming a very interesting idea to start recycling used water.